Pacta Veneta

Pacta Veneta: the history behind the pacts that tried to put an end to the Eastern Roman Empire. Prof. Kristin Skottki. “Master of Global History Foundations II: Thesis and methods”. Winter 2021-2022. Stefano Pedrina Matrikelnummer: 1822550. Master of Global History, first semester. Short written paper (6ECTS). Stefano.Pedrina@uni-bayreuth.de 11-05-2022. Introduction Crusades occupy a large portion of the historic discourse about the Middle Ages, everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the “holy” struggle between Christian knights and Muslim forces in the Holy Land between the years 1095 and 1291. During many different crusades, with different protagonists and varying outcomes, one sticks out as a strange anomaly, the fourth Crusade. This crusade differs because it never reached the Holy Land or any other region controlled by Muslim rulers, it never engaged in combat with Muslim armies, nor did religion ever play a greater role except for façade. This endeavor was all about power and money, from the beginning, extensively planned by legendary Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo, who cemented his place in history thanks to this enterprise, together with his French-crusader allies. From conquering a minor rival city in the Adriatic to an effective occupation of Christianity’s biggest city for fifty-six years, and thus creating a new Empire called the “Latin Empire” everything about the fourth Crusade goes beyond what the previous experiences regarding Crusades are about. Documentation about the military aspect of this historic event was not hard to find, it is widely available, but the aspect that I was more interested about saw very little written testimonies from those years. Sources regarding the diplomatic efforts sustained by the winning party regarding the reorganization and the creation of new institutions out of nothing was very hard to find. Thanks to the considerable research work done by author Marco Pozza in his “I patti con l’impero latino di Costantinopoli 1205-1231” I will try to analyze the first treaties that were signed between the allied factions that conquered Constantinople. Even though the texts of the treaties have survived to these days, they are not easily accessible since they need a translation from the Latin language, which can be complicated sometimes given the semantic differences between the roman and the medieval version of the language, which sometimes completely differ. After all premises I hope, my work will help to understand the intricate and sophisticated levels of diplomacy that existed, and were more common than we think, in the Middle Ages. Through this Paper I will try to research and describe this strange historic event, that tried nothing less than to get rid of the Eastern Roman Empire on a political, economic and cultural level. The arrogance and the audacity that I constantly felt while researching the protagonists of this event amazed me to an extent that I still can hardly believe, it reminded me of the concept of imperialism, which I hardly ever compared to the Middle Ages in a modern sense. Chapter one: The inception of the fourth crusade At the end of the 12th century the crusaders possessions were greatly reduced, and the remaining one were at great risk of being retaken by Muslim forces. Between 1176 and 1187 the Ayubbid sultan Saladin had recaptured most of the territories previously owned by the crusader states. “The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context”, Angold. This Muslim “Reconquista” culminated in the recapture of Jerusalem in 1187, bringing the city back under Muslim control after almost two centuries “The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context”, Angold.. Few cities remained under control of Christian forces, Tyre, Antioch and Tripoli being the major ones. The Christians tried to recapture the Holy city in the third crusade but were unable to do so. Saladin died in 1193 and with his death his huge empire was divided between his sons, depriving the Muslims of a single powerful leader and subsequently creating discord and animosity between previously allied forces. In 1197 the peace that lasted since the times of Saladin was interrupted by the arrival of Henry VI of Hohenstaufen who led the so called “German Crusade” in response of the aborted attempt of his father Frederick I. This crusade was short-lived due to the emperor’s death at the beginning of the campaign, the bulk of the German nobles returned to their feuds in order to protect their interests in the unfolding fight for succession to the throne. Those forces who reached the Holy Land operated mainly in modern day Lebanon and were able to capture the cities of Sidon and Beirut in 1198. Further north of the war zone in the Levant, one could find the remaining heir of the once great Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire. It’s capital Constantinople was very reminiscent of past traditions, like bath houses, aqueducts and forums. The city itself was one of the largest settlements in Europe, at its peak it reached around half a million inhabitants. The city thanks to its location on the Bosporus and its triple wall defense ring was very well protected and was consequently able to secure its dominion over trade routes in the black sea and towards Persia and the far east for centuries “A history of the Eastern Roman empire”, Bury.. Naturally this privileged position attracted many rivalries in Europe, the city became a target for expansionist strategies, especially for the Republic of Venice. The history of relations between Venice and Constantinople goes a long way back and is complex. Since its inception Venice had to deal with Byzantine influence, religious and political influence over all “Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations”, Nicol. . Pretty soon Venice manifested its unwillingness to bow down to Byzantine power, the Doges acted soon in order to keep the island city free of eastern roman influences. This went against the wishes of the Byzantine emperors, who hoped to maintain the city under formal control in order to keep a foothold on the Italian peninsula, which they were rapidly losing through the 8th and 9th centuries. Trade was undoubtedly one of the mutual interests between Constantinople and Venice. “Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations”, Nicol. Venetians took naturally to the sea in order to supply their city with all necessary goods, otherwise difficult to obtain from a swampy lagoon. Wine, oil and salt were among the most important goods Venetian merchants were dealing with before the 10th century. Byzantine merchant on the other hand would introduce luxury goods on the north Italian market through Venice. Venetian merchants soon started to ignore imperial dispositions that banned trade with Muslim entities in the Holy Land, ignoring the decree of emperor Leo V which banned trade with those who occupied previously Byzantine territories in the Levant. Nonetheless it was in the interest of both parties to preserve a respectful albeit distant relationship “Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations”, Nicol. . Even though Venice respected the heritage and the historic importance of Constantinople, they wished to stay away from their constitutional rules, choosing to create their own system of government, suited to their unique political landscape. During the First Crusade Byzantine forces cooperated with European armies, especially against the Seljuks in Asia Minor. These combined forces managed to capture cities like Nicaea and Antioch, respectively in 1097 and 1098. After the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the Holy Land saw the creation of various crusader kingdoms, like the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This angered the Byzantines, who didn’t favor the birth of European enclaves in previously Byzantine lands. The seeds of rivalry and mistrust between Constantinople were planted, creating a quasi-constant climax of suspicion between both entities. At the same time the Venetians were late at joining the crusaders cause, their Pisan and Genoese rivals were quicker in joining the struggle by transporting fighters to the Middle East. This was due to worries regarding angering their partners in Constantinople and damaging trade with Muslim entities. At the end Venetians could not resist the opportunity of immense profits by aiding the crusaders in various aspects, by ferrying services and fleet leasing for example. The arrival of western powers to the Levant changed previous power balances, introducing new entities which were not keen in respecting the wishes of the Byzantines. Constantinople, inadvertently, had to keep Italian merchant republics, like Pisa, away from their interests, sometimes by coming to terms with them and granting them access to its wealthy markets and trade routes. In 1195, roughly a century after European fighters stepped foot on the Holy Land for the first time, Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos fell victim of a coup orchestrated by his brother, a quite common practice at palace in those years. At that moment the Eastern Roman Empire was in a delicate position, the treasury had nearly disappeared thanks to continuous mismanagement and the military power was a shadow of itself with practically the whole naval constituency outsourced to the Venetians. The empires defenses were greatly undermined, and this aspect did not go unnoticed by other powers. Around the years 1200 the calls for a renewed crusade went through the European continent, the call made by Pope Innocence III went largely ignored at first. Nonetheless a group of mostly French fighters assembled in Champagne around the year 1199, led by Boniface of Monsterrat “The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context”, Angold.. Envoys were sent to Genoa and Venice to negotiate contracts to ferry the troops to Egypt, the objective of the Crusade. A deal was stipulated with Venice to transport 33,500 troops by sea, an incredible endeavor for the time. Naturally, many preparations were needed in order to comply with the set goals, the long-stretched islet separating the lagoon from the sea, the so called “Lido” was chosen as temporary base for the troops waiting to be ferried to their destination. During that time Venice was led by Enrico Dandolo, an elderly and capable leader descending from a powerful family. Born in 1107 The precise date of Dandolo’s birth is disputed, the date of 1107 is based on the account of Mario Sanuto the Younger, written three centuries after Dandolo’s death, who stated that Dandolo was 85 at the moment of his election., not much is known about his early life, since he was not emancipated till the death of his father, which occurred when Enrico himself was very old for the time, 67. One of Dandolo’s first political roles was during the tumultuous years around 1170 when Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus allowed the return of Pisan and Genoese merchants to their previously abandoned quarters in Constantinople. This greatly angered Venetian merchants who stormed the quarters of their Italian rivals and started riots in Constantinople. The emperor struck down the riot and imprisoned many venetians after seizing their properties. The Doge of that time, Vitale Michiel, decided to organize a retaliatory expedition, which included Enrico Dandolo. Even though the expedition failed thanks to disease, Enrico maintained his sourness towards Constantinople. In later years Dandolo traveled through the Mediterranean basin in order to scout new allies against the Byzantines. In 1192 Dandolo became Doge, even though he was already blind and of high age. One of his first actions was to lead an attack against the city of Zara, situated on the dalmatian coast, which had engaged in rebellious and hostile actions against Venice. During this engagement Venice was able to regain control over various islands on the Croatian coast, albeit Zara was not conquered by the venetian expeditionary force. At the time in which the crusaders had started to arrive in Venice, awaiting their departure towards Egypt, they were expected to pay four silver marks for each knight with a horse, and two for all other passengers. The total sum to be devolved to the venetians was immense, the chances of honoring the whole payment by the crusade commanders were low, at best. This did not hinder in any way the enthusiastic support of the local population, which signed up for the holy mission in great numbers, Enrico Dandolo himself swore allegiance to the enterprise. Nonetheless the financial problems of the crusader army came to light, loans were made but were not honored. When the payment became due, crusaders were able to collect only slightly more than half of the 85,000 marks which were previously agreed. Dandolo elaborated an ingenious strategy which would assure the venetian state would receive its money for its services, he struck a deal with the foreign guests that Venice would receive the owed some in forms of future loot. Moreover, the crusaders agreed to spend the rest of the winter in the region around Zara “The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context”, Angold., in order to hunt down local pirates who could eventually pose a threat to the crusader fleet. The Great Council, the highest chamber in Venice, agreed to lend temporarily the missing sum in order to set sail, since the state was more than interested in using the foreign fighter to regain control over the city of Zara. The crusade fleet left Venice in the first days of October 1202, together with Dandolo, who left his powers in the hands of his son. The fleet reached Zara in November and threatened the city to surrender and to not resist, Pope Innocent forbade the crusade from attacking a Christian city, close to a Christian king, the king of Hungary, who had previously participated in a crusade. Innocent went so far to the point of threatening excommunication to those who would use force against the city of Zara. The crusaders showed no interest in the Pope’s threats and laid siege to the city, which inevitably surrendered in few weeks, on November 24th, 1202. Dandolo was inevitably excommunicated but kept it a secret in order to keep the crusader factions together. Venice had regained control over a rebellious city, which threatened their monopole in the Adriatic, this explains maybe the extreme steps the Republic took to solve this strategic headache. This gives us an idea over the pragmatic attitude of the political forces of the city, not even threats made by the Pope himself would stop their ambition and their desires. Chapter two: the attack on Constantinople, 1203-1204. While the combined forces of Venice and the crusaders were still stationed in Zara, a ship moored in the cities port carrying an important messenger. Alexios II, son of Isaac II the Byzantine emperor who was dethroned in 1195 by his brother in a coup, personally asked Dandolo and the crusade chiefs for assistance to regain the imperial throne. This was an incredible opportunity to put a sympathetic leader at the head of the Byzantine empire, which would have meant economic and political advantages, which would have put Venice in a pristine position for economic influence in the eastern Mediterranean basin. At first Dandolo was skeptical, meddling in the heated and dangerous power struggles in Constantinople exposed his persona to great political and personal risk. The French leaders on the other hand saw a great opportunity to sack one of the richest cities of the time, this would have brought them immense fortunes to repay their debt to the Venetians and to keep for themselves. The decision was finally made: the fleet would take a detour towards Constantinople in order to take the city, chase away Alexios II uncle Alexios III and fill up their pockets with precious goods. The fleet set sail towards the Bosporus in 1203, after resting in Zara during the winter, and reached Constantinople in July of 1203. It must be said that the city that stood in front of the besieging army was a shadow of itself, gone were the days of pomp and majestic appearance. The city had just recently fell victim to disastrous fires in the 1190’s, which caused depopulation and great damage to the infrastructure “The Restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII”, Talbot. p 243. . The invading European force set to play into their strengths immediately, instead of confronting the Byzantine army on open field, where the local forces would play out their strengths better, they chose to follow a daring plan. The venetian fleet, numbering several hundred ships, maneuvered fighters across the narrow Bosporus straight and got so close to the shore that the knights were able to disembark directly on land on their horses, in order to charge the confused Byzantine forces. This risky move was only rendered possible by the immense capabilities of venetian sailors. Once landed the crusaders attacked the forty meters high Galata tower, which once conquered and occupied would have permitted access to the Golden Horn, after removing the thick metal chain that blocked access to the bay. The fighting was brutal and vicious, the defending forces had some foreign mercenaries in their ranks, experienced soldiers form England and Italy, which repeatedly tried sorties against the enemy in order to push them back. In mid-July 1203 the tower finally fell after its defendants drowned trying to escape across the Golden Horn Bay, this permitted the venetian fleet to access the bay and to get dangerously close to Constantinople’s walls. Meanwhile Alexios, the son of the ousted emperor, was paraded outside the city walls in order to gather support from civilians inside the city, these tactics ended up being vane since the population mostly sided with the usurper emperor, which according to chronicles was well accepted by most, even though he got into power after a coup. The attacking forces decided to launch an assault on the cities walls, the crusaders would try to storm the walls from the northwestern sector and the venetians would attempt an ambitious attack on the sea walls with their fleet. The attack was launched on July 17th, the venetians were able to secure a large section of the walls facing the bay but the forces on the land were unable to break the resistance of the defending soldiers, which were part of the elite Varangian forces “Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations”, Nicol. p. 135., the emperors personal guard. The fleet was forced to retreat in order to assist the other attacking front, prior to the pull back the attackers set fire to the wall section they had previously captured, damaging large swaths of close neighborhoods. The Byzantines tried to charge after the crusaders, counting on their numerical superiority, but failed at the end to dislodge once and for all the attackers. On July 18th the crusaders launched an assault on the city which disrupted the defenses, forcing Alexios III to flee the city. On august 1st Alexios II was declared emperor, together with his freed father Isaac II, which had surprisingly survived captivity after the coup that ousted him “A history of the Eastern Roman empire”, Bury. p. 317-325. . The months following the siege were very difficult for the city and its inhabitants, the foreign soldiers showed little regard for local properties and regularly stole valuable goods and set fire to buildings after looting them, like mosques and even orthodox churches “The Restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII”, Talbot. p 244. . Meanwhile the new emperors struggled to find the resources to repay the debt owed to the Venetians and crusaders, forcing them to melt down artifacts and valuables to get hold of much needed precious metals. The local Greek population was extremely dissatisfied with the new order and regularly showed public miscontent, going so far as toppling ancient statues in the agora just because they were perceived as propitiatory for the Latin invaders. Riots lasted for the entire fall of 1203, resulting in a highly explosive situation inside the city’s walls, a situation which could worsen from moment to moment. On January 24th1204, emperor Isaac II father of co-emperor Alexios IV died, setting of the most violent riots the city had seen since occupation started. Alexios IV was deposed by a violent mob instigated by forces familiar with the emperor’s palace, after seeking help from the crusaders in vain. The situation became very chaotic and volatile, the imperial chamberlain Alexios Doukas proclaimed himself as the new emperor Alexios V on February 5th, 1204, and immediately sought the withdrawal of the foreign troops from within the city and the surrounding area. Alexios V showed no restrain and ordered the execution of Alexios IV, he wanted to scare qay the foreign forces and cleanse once and for all other pretenders to his position. The new emperor tried to negotiate a withdrawal of the French-Venetian forces without payment, but was met with a stern refusal, since the latter wanted to avenge Alexios IV and receive their due payment. Venetians and crusaders agreed on capturing the city again, in order to install a new regime and to gain full control over the possessions of the Eastern Roman Empire “I patti con l'Impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. p. 6. The possibility of putting their hands on immense fortunes and gain control over large areas of the empire seemed worth a renewed, difficult and costly assault on the city. On April 9th,1204, the Latin forces began an assault, again from the Golden Horn fortifications, crossing the narrow waterway that separated the north-western shore from the city’s walls. The first assault proved to be non-successful, but the attacking army did not back down and launched another attack on April 12th, again the Venetians were successful in a daring attack from the sea to the walls, proving once again their superior navigational tactics, once the fierce resistance of the Varangians was broken the crusaders were able to access the city and led fire in order to scare away arriving defenders. This represented the final blow to the city’s defenses, proved by intense fighting and numerical inferiority. Alexios V fled the city through a secret escape gate towards the countryside, the biggest Christian city of the world was at the complete mercy of the crusaders. What came after comes close to hell on earth, according to historical testimony, the city was looted and sacked for three days. Seventy-two hours of terror, systematic rape, looting and destruction that saw no mercy for civilians or members of the orthodox clergy, nuns were raped, monasteries plundered of their artifacts and surrendering soldiers were publicly executed. The army that once set sail to wage war on the “infidels” now took responsibility for crimes that would haunt and poison the relation between the catholic and orthodox church for centuries. The Venetians participated too in the looting, but apparently abstained from the more hideous activities other fighters committed, they on the other hand showed great interest in appropriating the numerous artifacts present throughout Constantinople. The famous bronze horse from the Hippodrome were shipped to Venice, were they still sit to this day on the Saint Mark’s cathedral, many bronze statues attributed to famous sculptors like Lysippus were confiscated and some even melted. The total amount of loot taken from the city came close to the million silver marks “Byzantium and the Crusades”, Harris. p 175., an unimaginable amount of money at that time. Chapter three: the creation of the Latin Empire and the Pacta Veneta After the conquering of Constantinople, the new rulers realized that they stood in front of a complicated challenge, reorganizing the former Eastern Roman Empire would not be an easy task. The difficulty lied in partitioning the new power and spheres of influence between two factions that had diverse interests: the crusaders and the Venetians. Almost immediately after the conquest, the two sides came together and started a long negotiation process that would eventually lead to the drawing up of the Pacta Veneta. The two parties started to break up the territories they already controlled and those that were not under their control yet, this meant planning new offensives and military campaigns to gain complete control over the areas formerly controlled by Constantinople. Even though initial plans for partitions were already made before the enterprise, the reality that hit the new rulers was quite different. In May 1204, negotiations started officially, the aim was to essentially reorganize the new Latin Empire on a feudal system “I patti con l'Impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. P. 6, divided between spheres of influence controlled by Venetians, crusaders and the new emperor. A commission was established to elect a new emperor, on a basis that resembled very much the commission that was responsible for the election of the Doge in Venice. The commission saw six Venetians and six crusaders in the electoral college, they decided to elect Baldwin of Flanders, one of the heads of the crusader’s forces, he was crowned in a solemn celebration inside the Hagia Sophia on the 16th of May 1205. He would gain direct control over one fourth of the newly established empire, the other three quarters would be equally divided between the Venetians and the crusaders. This order of division efficiently shows the idea behind the Latin Empire, a puppet state controlled by foreign forces. Another commission like that responsible of the emperor’s election was formed to divide the territories between the two ruling factions, a catalogue was drafted, the “Partitum Terrarium Imperii Romanie”, minutely registering who controlled what and to what extent. Venice obtained three eights of the capital, Thrace and the majority of continental and insular Greece “I patti con l’impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. P. 8. While the process of reorganization was ongoing the situation in and around the new empire was highly volatile. Byzantine rebels soon revolted against the new rulers, getting support from the kingdom of Bulgaria, trapping the Latin forces in a consuming fight on the western border, the situation became extremely difficult after the Latins suffered a heavy defeat outside Adrianople in late spring of 1205 seeing even the capture of the new emperor. Adding to the dire situation that was already life threatening to the Latin “experiment” was the death of Enrico Dandolo in June 1205, losing the diplomatic and tactical talent provided by the old Doge. The war against the Byzantines and the Bulgarians ended in 1208 after the Latins made some concessions to Byzantine noblemen resulting in them ceasing the war effort leaving the Bulgarians unable to continue the struggle alone “I patti con l'Impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. P 11. Back in 1205, after the death of Dandolo, saw the Venetians elect a “podestà”, a new leader of the venetian community in Constantinople, the first podestà was Marino Zeno. During the first period of occupation Latins forces acted according to a strategy of eliminating or absorbing every institution linked to the Byzantines. The first and most powerful victim of this strategy was the orthodox church, which was now under direct control of the new emperor who was reserved the right to nominate a new patriarch. All powerful positions inside the new Latin church went into the hands of the western clergy, estranging the once powerful eastern church to its believers, which did not recognize the new figures in power “I patti con l'Impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. P 6. Even though the original pact dating back to 1204 between the Venetians and the crusaders was largely respected, the reality after the conquest showed a great power disproportion towards the Italians, thanks also to the many dead and captured crusade commanders which fought in the war against the Byzantines and Bulgarians, including Baldwin of Flandern which was captured by the Bulgarians and went missing never to be freed again “I patti con l'Impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. P 9. Nonetheless the procedures of establishing agreements regarding the exercise of the law, trade and privileges continued for years to come between the francs and the Venetians. The draft process of the Pacta Veneta demonstrates the level of precise jurisdiction desired by the parts involved, twenty-six years and fourteen documents are a testimony to the seriousness involved in the creation of the Latin Empire. If we observe just the first document, we already see a strategy that aims for the long term, in 1205 Venetians already set the rules clear of who was barred from entering the new Empire, not surprisingly all the enemies of the Republic of Venice, and what were the civic and commercial advantages reserved to the Venetian civilians “I patti con l'Impero latino di Costantinopoli, 1205-1231”, Pozza. P 33. Just a year after the conquest of Constantinople the most important questions regarding land, trade and jurisdiction were essentially settled, cementing Venice’s political and economic weight in the Mediterranean basin. The enterprise planned by Dandolo would certify Venice as a European powerhouse, for years to come. The long-lasting repercussions of the Fourth Crusade changed the way in which east and west interacted for the next generations, crusades lost their steam, it showed that political and economic desires could hijack the once noble and sacred, according to the Europeans, intentions of the crusaders struggle. It also showed that ruthless commanders and Heads of State would not bow down to any temporal or holy power, if money power and influence were involved. To me this historic event is a testament to the immutable relation we humans have with power, we desire it, we bring sacrifices to achieve it and we want to hold on to it as long as possible. This aspect has not changed through time, people in the Middle Ages were not excepted from this tentation, they too had an in depth understanding of complex power structures, and thus for some they also knew how to bring them down. Dandolo’s calculation does not rest on the hopes of divine intervention, he appears, looking at his actions, to be very confident in his political capabilities used to achieve what he wanted. He understood the wider horizon of foreign politics, an understanding that was quite rare at the time but still existed, serving us again an example of the complexity found in the Middle Ages throughout the many substrata of society and politics at that time. Conclusion The consequences brought by the sack of Constantinople were immense regarding the relations between the eastern and western European churches, the schisma was deepened and would not recover for many centuries, also the status of the Eastern Roman Empire which was restored again in 1261 would never be the same, greatly weakened it would eventually descend into a city state centered around Constantinople, which would be conquered by the Ottomans two centuries later. Prominent medievalist Sir Steven Runciman went so far as to say “there was never a greater crime against humanity than the fourth crusade” “A History of the Crusades”, Runciman. P. 130 V. 3.. The loss of any common Christian fraternity and comradery between the two factions involved shocked the public opinion in those times, it showed that corruption and political lust would go above bodies to achieve their aims, a lesson that was well learnt by successors. This fracture between east and west lived on to present days in some aspects, Pope John Paul II expressed sorrow multiple times regarding the crimes and atrocities crusaders committed while attacking and occupying Constantinople, eight hundred years after the events that took place. Leaving aside the suffering of interreligious connections, the fourth crusade can be seen as a perfect example of global relations and connectivity, for the time, greatly influencing the future. Different subjects came together to plan and execute an endeavor in a different part of the world, ending in a complete opposite location and doing nothing of the things originally planned. The ambition and greed of few created events that had long lasting repercussions on the European continent, and why not even the world. Constantinople was greatly weakened after the Latin occupation which would make it succumb to the Ottoman conquest in 1453, conquest which cut out European merchant s from the Turkish markets eventually leading to the age of explorations and the discovery of a new continent while searching for an alternative route for India. "I hereby declare that I have written the work autonomously and that no other sources or aids have been used other than those indicated. In places in the work where I used other people’s works either in wording or meaning, I have in any case indicated and labelled the source. I am aware that a term paper that is proven to be plagiarism will be graded 'insufficient' (5.0). I am aware that the discovery of a case of plagiarism will be reported to the examination office and may be punished by exclusion from further examination performances". Stefano Pedrina, 11-05-2022. Bibliography Angold, Michael J. The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context. London: Routledge, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315839660. Bury, J. B. A History of the Eastern Roman Empire. Рипол Классик, 2013. Ciggaar, Krijna Nelly. Western Travellers to Constantinople: The West and Byzantium, 962-1204 : Cultural and Political Relations. BRILL, 1996. Harris, Jonathan. Byzantium and the Crusades. Bloomsbury, n.d. Accessed April 29, 2022. 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